Which is worse to give a kid: high fructose corn syrup or splenda?

[TinkPinkPoem]

I don't like Splenda or any artificial sweetners. I'd rather have sugar in moderation that a pure chemical subsitute of it. I say no to HFCS too.

I'd vote for honey as a subsitute to sugar first. There is no better source for sweetness and energy than pure bee honey. If you have to have sugar, I say go for unrefined cane sugar. I use either the one or the other.

 

[taylor3297]

High fructose corn syrup is worse.

I have to disagree, hgcs is made from Yellow dent corn primarily grown in the United States

Splenda contains the drug sucralose. This chemical is 600 times sweeter than sugar. To make sucralose, chlorine is used. Chlorine has a split personality. When used with carbon, the chlorine atom in sucralose forms a "covalent" bond. Unlike ionic bonds, covalently bound chlorines are a big no-no for the human body. They yield insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides - not something you want in the lunch box of your precious child. It's therefore no surprise that the originators of sucralose, chemists Hough and Phadnis, were attempting to design new insecticides when they discovered it! It wasn't until the young Phadnis accidentally tasted his new "insecticide" that he learned it was sweet. And because sugars are more profitable than insecticides, the whole insecticide idea got canned and a new sweetener called Splenda got packaged.

Just some things you might want to read on The people's chemist website. I don't believe everything I read, but in food chemistry in college we studied all the sweetners except for truvia, and I did not like most of the results that were produced.

 

[aprilgail2]

I use regular sugar- I would NEVER use artificial sweetners of ANY kind nor do I let my daughter have any. A friend of mine gave her diet soda- I was not amused!

 

[bumbershoot]

Personally, I don't think any of them is particularly bad IN MODERATION. But I'm not really big into conspiracy theories, either.

Well...I'd offer for you to come by and watch my son if he even has corn syrup solids, let along HFCS, but not even my 5 year old has interest in having a reaction like he used to before we knew to watch for it. We had some horrible, nasty, violent tantrums before we realized what was happening and why. All those awful zoo trips were explained when I read the label on Uncrustables (HFCS and cs)...they were his big treat.

There is NO moderation for him. And considering how many calm, happy children I've seen turn demonic after eating things with HFCS and cs in them (group camping trip, passed around the smores....marshmallows with corn syrup, HoneyMaid graham crackers have HFCS, only the Hersheys chocolate was safe....we didn't have them for those reasons AND we're vegetarian so the gelatin is repulsive...the other little kid suddenly turned ANGRY and violent and couldn't concentrate on anything, just as ONE example), I know there are many MANY other kids and adults out there who are having reactions but just don't know what to pin it on yet.

Has nothing to do with conspiracies.

I avoid high fructose corn syrup WHENEVER possible... its avoidable for most items (except weird things like ketchup?!?!) if you are careful about your ingredient labels. Research indicates that it may cause almost an addiction, where the more you eat the more you crave.

I am still investigating Stevia. I am liking what I read, and I think we may give it a try. Wish it wasn't so stinking expensive though.

Organic ketchups. Kroger brand, Safeway brand...Whole Foods brand, too.

Stevia is an herb. I personally, other than oregano and things like that, shy away from herbs after having some seriously negative reactions to two given to me during labor (had the exact opposite reaction than I was "supposed to have"...but that happens to me with western medicine too), so stevia worries me for that personal reason.

If you must use one-High Fructose Corn Syrup is much safer than Splenda. It is an actual natural product that has simply had the fructose-fruit sugar content increased

A natural product messed with in a lab. Making it absolutely NOT natural.




OP, the choice is impossible for me. I wouldn't give either to myself and definitely not to my kid.

 

[bicker]

I have to disagree, hgcs is made from Yellow dent corn primarily grown in the United States

You don't have to agree or disagree. You can just express your own preference for high fructose corn syrup.

Splenda contains the drug sucralose.

That's a ridiculous misrepresentation, and draws the thread away from answering the OP's direct question.

Splenda is an engineered chemical compound. Just like thousands of others that we regularly consume.

 

[TinkPinkPoem]

I am still investigating Stevia. I am liking what I read, and I think we may give it a try. Wish it wasn't so stinking expensive though.

Research is still conducted on the effects of stevia. If I were you, I would wait some more before trying it.

 

[aprilgail2]

There is NO moderation for him. And considering how many calm, happy children I've seen turn demonic after eating things with HFCS and cs in them (group camping trip, passed around the smores....marshmallows with corn syrup, HoneyMaid graham crackers have HFCS, only the Hersheys chocolate was safe....we didn't have them for those reasons AND we're vegetarian so the gelatin is repulsive...the other little kid suddenly turned ANGRY and violent and couldn't concentrate on anything, just as ONE example), I know there are many MANY other kids and adults out there who are having reactions but just don't know what to pin it on yet.

.

I have been to girl scout trips where smores are eaten by children by the 1/2 dozen each (100+ per trip) and have never seen one child turn into demonic unfocused angry, violent child after eating HFCS. We would sing songs after it and the kids would go off to bed...

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I have been to girl scout trips where smores are eaten by children by the 1/2 dozen each (100+ per trip) and have never seen one child turn into demonic unfocused angry, violent child after eating HFCS. We would sing songs after it and the kids would go off to bed...

Seriously! I have never in all my life (and I was a girlscout that went camping) seen any person young or old turn into a violent demon from eating HFCS. If that happened I would suggest a young priest and and old priest and some holy water.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Stevia is an herb. I personally, other than oregano and things like that, shy away from herbs after having some seriously negative reactions to two given to me during labor (had the exact opposite reaction than I was "supposed to have"...but that happens to me with western medicine too), so stevia worries me for that personal reason.

Forgive my ignorance but how on earth do you become allergic to all western medicine? Does seeing a doctor cause some type of reaction?

 

[Sorsha]

All things are ok in moderation. The problem is so many people do not realize what is in their food. HFCS is in many crackers, cookies, breads, pasta, ice cream (even the "all natural" kind), bagels, english muffins, some milk (especially chocolate), salad dressings, sauces, spaghetti sauces, peanut butter, jellies, etc. and when you're eating a little of those every day, it adds up to way more than "moderation".

Just read your labels, and you will be OK. I have been able to find jams, jellies, peanut butter, bread, ice cream, etc all without HFCS. Sometimes (ketchup, jelly, etc) you do have to go organic, but not always. I have NEVER had a problem with chocolate milk, and that's the only milk DD6 will drink.

Just a note, just plain ol' corn syrup is NOT the same as high fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is in its natural state, HFCS has been tinkered with. I have no problem with regular corn syrup, personally.

 

[ladycollector]

I think HFCS is worse.

 

[Magic Mom]

Seriously! I have never in all my life (and I was a girlscout that went camping) seen any person young or old turn into a violent demon from eating HFCS. If that happened I would suggest a young priest and and old priest and some holy water.

In all the summers I've spent chaperoning girl scout summer camps and day camps, I never once saw any child act in anyway violent after eating smores. I would imagine a mass reaction of demonic violence in children would have sparked public outcry against the offending smore ingredients.

 

[aprilgail2]

Forgive my ignorance but how on earth do you become allergic to all western medicine? Does seeing a doctor cause some type of reaction?

 

[Mouse House Mama]

In all the summers I've spent chaperoning girl scout summer camps and day camps, I never once saw any child act in anyway violent after eating smores. I would imagine a mass reaction of demonic violence in children would have sparked public outcry against the offending smore ingredients.

Perhaps that is what really happened in the Blair Witch movie. They ate tainted smores!

 

[Magic Mom]

Perhaps that is what really happened in the Blair Witch movie. They ate tainted smores!

You're so smart.

 

[SaraJayne]

Just read your labels, and you will be OK. I have been able to find jams, jellies, peanut butter, bread, ice cream, etc all without HFCS. Sometimes (ketchup, jelly, etc) you do have to go organic, but not always. I have NEVER had a problem with chocolate milk, and that's the only milk DD6 will drink.

Me, too. I've become a label reader and I'm able to elimate a lot of HFCS from our diet, without buying organic, just by reading labels.

 

[luvmy3]

For baking I would use just plain sugar, using splenda would be a put off because of the taste.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

I have been to girl scout trips where smores are eaten by children by the 1/2 dozen each (100+ per trip) and have never seen one child turn into demonic unfocused angry, violent child after eating HFCS. We would sing songs after it and the kids would go off to bed...

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Just read your labels, and you will be OK. I have been able to find jams, jellies, peanut butter, bread, ice cream, etc all without HFCS. Sometimes (ketchup, jelly, etc) you do have to go organic, but not always. I have NEVER had a problem with chocolate milk, and that's the only milk DD6 will drink.

Just a note, just plain ol' corn syrup is NOT the same as high fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is in its natural state, HFCS has been tinkered with. I have no problem with regular corn syrup, personally.

Oh, of course you can find things without HFCS just a lot of people don't pay attention to the labels. I am an avid label reader as I try to eliminate most chemicals from my diet, not just HFCS.

PET chocolate milk's second ingredient is HFCS, by the way. But you can find just about every product without HFCS if you do your reading!

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Research is still conducted on the effects of stevia. If I were you, I would wait some more before trying it.

Stevia has been studied extensively and used without problems for decades outside of the US.

It is the sweetener of choice in some Asian countries.

I am a low carber, so try to use Stevia if I use something other than sugar. But even with a low carb diet, I would much rather just put a teaspoon of plain, raw sugar in my coffee over anything else.